The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Ogun Area Command, has again proven to be a veritable source of revenue generation for the government.
Point News247 reports that the Area Controller, Dera Nnadi, made this disclosure on Wednesday at a press briefing at the NCS office in Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital.
Presenting the agency’s scorecard on revenue generation, Nnadi disclosed that a total of N2,437,050, being proceeds of auction sales of seized petroleum products and scrap metals, was made by the command during the period under review.
He, however, said his management has met with royal fathers in Ogun with the appeal to help spread the message of anti-smuggling to their subjects, stating: ‘”We are deploying massive intelligence and rules of engagement in all our operations, and this has yielded greater successes being recorded on daily basis without casualties.”
Nnadi said the cumulative duty paid value for all the seizures amounted to N172,999,387.
He added that; “It should be noted that the Federal Government’s directive on border closure is still subsisting, hence there is no revenue generated from imports activities.”
Nnadi also revealed that the Ogun 1 Area Command seized 7,311 bags of 50kg foreign parboiled rice, which is equivalent to 12 trailer loads and 365.55 metric tonnes of prohibited rice, in one month.
He noted that if such a quantity of rice was allowed into the country, it would jeopardise the rice policy of the federal government.
Other seizures made by the command, according to the customs controller, include 12 kegs of 25 litres of vegetable oil; 20 units of means of conveyance (used vehicles); used clothes, four bales of 25kg; 26 sacks of used shoes; 124 sacks (book size) and 165 (coconut size) of cannabis sativa weighing 637kg; two bundles of used tyres and four rims; 831 kegs of 25ltrs of PMS; 810 cartons of frozen poultry products and fours sacks of used toys.
Nnadi also warned smugglers in the state to stop sabotaging the economy.
The Area Controller also emphasised that the continuous attacks on customs and other security operatives by those he described as unpatriotic elements would not deter them from sustaining the onslaught on smuggling activities.
Recall that the House of Representatives had earlier this year raised the revenue target for the Nigerian Customs Service in the 2021 financial year from N1.465 trillion to N1.679 trillion.
The House Committee on Customs and Excise made the increase when the Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs Service, Hameed Ali appeared before during the defence of the 2021 budget proposals and performance of the 2020 budget.